Streets
Sitemap Streets in Rapture --- --- --- --- --- Streets of Rapture : You cannot take a Train everywhere in Rapture (only to major stops, stations in building clusters), and Bathyspheres (as shown) must've been ridiculously bothersome and likewise limited (THEY AINT LIKE AUTOMOBILES). So pedestrian accessible 'Streets' similar to the pathways between Olympus Heights and Apollo Square would be logical, and moreso if surrounded by building structures for shops and residences akin to typical city streets. Walking would be used for such local access. Trams/Trolleys criss-crossing the City, located down the center of the 'Streets' would be logical. Also for Bicycles - we saw many of these. Thus there must've been something more appropriate than the large street-like viaduct passages we saw which had all those needless stairs constantly being along the way. Transportation in Cities is a crucial element. Rapture, being a City, would have it properly done. --- --- --- Missing from This 'City' - Streets : I came up with a possible Rapture design for 'Streets' located along the Trolley lines, with 3 story buildings on either side of whats basically an oversized Viaduct. There would be multi-tiered sidewalks (largely to get pedestrians away from the Trolleys constantly rumbling by down the middle of the 'street'). Simultaneously, those 'Streets' most often would have the sewer/utility mains running along down in their lower levels. Streets can have 'intersections' between similar lengths of Street, with concentrations of businesses (like local groceries, small restaurants, and other services ... City Not needing cars : though electric ones might have been experimental (you need proper and extensive roads to make them work, to have any real utility). Bicycles have been previously mentioned/shown in the game (and we've seen advertised in-game for those). 'Streets' allow many residences NOT to have to be in high-rises, but in many places with only a few stories, small shops (frequently with attached residence). There can be more flexibility/combinations for floor layouts, long lengths of street signs/advertisement, sidewalk environments, lower densities than the 'hubs'. Auto-generation of 'streets' is simplified by their regular base structure, and more reasons to allow interchangeable segments being mixed together. These streets will criss-cross Raptures which is sized at several miles across. --- --- --- Diagram of a Street Structure : Street structures are a continuous structure that links Plazas/Squares in the city and contain significant 'living space' for the Citizens as well as in-built transportation and utility lines. The Streets are largely flat level, though some grouped city Street sections may be built at different depths (levels) to match the buildings they connect and terrain contours. * Diagram Cross sections shows one -- a double sided row of 'Spaces' (room areas) with the 'Street Surface' and Trolley down the middle (optional), and two -- a single row of larger 'Spaces' with the 'Street Surface' and Trolley line (optional) running offset to one side. * The 'Spaces' being Shops and Residences, are stacked 3 stories high with access staircases and walkways/balconies along each level. Usually Shops are on the 'ground' floor, with Residences above. * The Trolley has 'Stops' about every 300 feet (seen in the smaller scale top views of several standard sections), with a stretch of double track to allow opposing Trolley traffic to pass. Open areas around the 'Stops' can contain small local vendors and other conveniences. * Below the 'Street surface' level, are the Tram and Utilities tubes run (separately sealed from the structure) and various environmental facilities/machines/pumps/junctions. Some storage space is also located at this level. * At the lowest point are the sump wells used to collect the inevitable leaks and condensation. * In the upper area near the arched 'skylight' window is a Promenade deck (optional). More than one shape of Window substructure can be substituted for the one shown in the Diagram. * Most 'Street' structures are supported by Foundation 'pillars' built to adapt to variations in the seabed (which in a few places had to be cut into and cleared to maintain the uniform street height). * The Diagram shows examples of 'Side Streets', which don't have trolley tracks, built perpendicular to the 'Main' Street. Typically 'Side Streets' will connect on both ends to a Main Street. * Standard 45 degree sections (shown) can be used to break up long straight sections of street and/or to avoid terrain obstacles and to follow terrain contours. * Additional configurations would include intersections of two perpendicular 'main' Streets with Trolley lines (with a transfer point between the lines, though this is more common as part of a Plaza/Square). * At Intervals, Pressure Safety Bulkheads and doors exist so that if a length of Street suffers a major leak, then it can be closed up to prevent widespread flooding. The tram/utility tubes are separately sealed so can continue to operate even if the rest of the structure is flooded (very handy when Rapture fell into ruin). Every separate bulkhead protected section will have at least one maintenance airlock (to allow repairs in a sealed section). The regular MODULAR patterns of the Street Structure 'building blocks' allows significant substitutions of compatible 'Spaces'/'rooms' with many varying internal wall layouts and other interchangeable details. Decorations likewise follow this modular scheme. The City 'growth' can be extended along the Streets using auto-generation to detail new sections of the map. The 'Seed Map' initially designed for the game world specifies the paths of the Streets (as well as the terrain contours and all the plazas/squares and large buildings) as a cohesive pattern (not random). Additional piecemeal detail can be added later when needed. ---- . . . . . . . . . One of my 'Streets' in Rapture, with a Trolley track down the middle and sidewalks, and multi-storied businesses and apartments to either side. There would be several miles of such 'streets' in Rapture. They criss-crossed Rapture, connected building clusters, and frequently met at intersections like this spot. Note the ceiling -- we saw similar in the games, but they generally weren't as long and linear as this is. Artificial lighting (fluorescent lights) would give general lighting and 'streetlamps' for brighter illumination (and when during the 'Night-Cycle' the general lighting was dimmed. ---- Misc Conveyances : Tinyclownscooter.jpg|Small scooter (can be taken ON Trains/Trolley) to go mid- distances MotoBike.jpg|Another way to get about middle-distances (Streets in Rapture) --- --- --- Street Grid : * Rapture's 'Street Level' is actually not near the base/foundation of many buildings as the seafloor and foundation structures vary Significantly in depth throughout the city (The Sea Floor isn't consistent, slopes, ridges, Mount Ryan). * The Street grid was laid out to be largely flat plane to minimize street grades for both pedestrians and Trolley transport. * This Grid structure is the main transportation paths for Rapture (Trolleys and 'Streets'), as well as for utility 'City Mains'. * Hubs are spaced approximately every 5 blocks (block is size of typical building) and are intersections in the grid structure (and multiple utility mains). They are usually adjacent to 'Squares' - large open areas at street level which usually have a cluster of buildings around them. They usually correspond to the utility 'City Main' Hubs and the distributed Pumping stations. --- --- --- 'Street Level Bulkheads ': * 'Street' walkways and trolley lines (and the utility tram lines down below street level) need to be secured against pressure breach of one section. Most double trolley tracks narrow to one going thru these pressure doorways. * Large normally-open section doors were designed to not impede constant thru traffic, but close immediately on a sudden pressure increase. * The system used double sets of doors to be Failsafe and have hydraulic pusher plates sufficient to move anything likely out of the way (ex - a trolley car). Trolleys are normally never allowed to stop across the doors. * Street intersections 'hubs' with 'street' crossing traffic (4 way intersection) have a door in 2 of the 4 directions (North and East) with the adjacent section's pressure doors protecting the other 2 directions (South and West) * The under-street utility tramways uses a similar system except on a smaller scale (single 8x8 foot doors). * Some areas of New Rapture (the rebuilt sections Core and Downtown) still do not have their Safety doors fully working (all doors operational and automatics working). These are one of the City Project priorities. --- --- --- --- --- . .